In the final few days of March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak prompted countries around the world to impose strict border restrictions, causing significant travel disruption and leading Singapore Airlines to outline the most significant schedule cuts in its history for the months ahead.
With passenger volumes practically obliterated, one member of the fleet the airline first withdrew from service was an obvious choice – the airline’s 400-seater Airbus A380s – which bowed out of passenger flights on 31st March 2020.
Many of these aircraft were later flown to storage in Alice Springs, Australia, and in November 2020 the airline confirmed it would retire seven of its older A380s.
That will give SIA a future fleet of 12 superjumbos – pioneering jets it first helped to launch back in 2007.
Only this month we’ve seen two of the airline’s older A380s moved to the Changi Exhibition Centre for dismantling, with some parts set to be used in the airline’s forthcoming ‘upcycling’ project.
The A380 is back!
In what will be music to the ears for many Singapore Airlines fans, we now have confirmation that the first of the carrier’s Airbus A380s will return to passenger service from 18th November 2021, starting with flights to and from London Heathrow.
The United Kingdom was recently upgraded to Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) status, opening up quarantine-free travel to and from Singapore, and the superjumbo will of course be joining the party on the designated Heathrow – Changi VTL flight – SQ317.
“With the inclusion of the UK in the VTL arrangements, SIA has seen strong passenger demand for services to and from London towards the year-end holiday season.”
Singapore Airlines spokesperson
All Singapore Airlines A380s returning to service are in the latest 471-seat ‘Version 3’ configuration:
- 6 Suites
- 78 Business Class
- 44 Premium Economy Class
- 343 Economy Class
Regional routes first
Singapore Airlines has also reported that its A380s will be deployed on an ad hoc basis on short-haul services for “operational requirements” prior to the London launch, presumably to get the crew up to speed on the superjumbo again after a long break.
We’d expect to see cities like Bangkok included on the roster for these ‘re-training’ flights.
Unfortunately without quarantine-free two-way travel with neighbouring countries right now, not many of our Singapore-based readers will be able to take advantage of shorter flights like these, but they’ll be fun to see nonetheless.
It’s been a while!
The last passengers to step off a flight operated by one of Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380s disembarked 9V-SKZ, the carrier’s newest superjumbo, shortly after 7am on 31st March 2020, following their journey on SQ317 from London.
That aircraft remains in long-term storage in Australia, having been relocated there on 26th April 2020.
Back in July we predicted a likely return for SIA’s A380s to the network, after the shrink wrap was peeled off one of the airline’s newest superjumbos in Alice Springs, 9V-SKW, and it was flown home.
A further ‘Version 3’ aircraft with the latest cabin products, 9V-SKY, then followed.
The schedule
From 18th November 2021 the flagship aircraft in the Singapore Airlines fleet will make a return on the London Heathrow route, as shown in the following schedule.
Singapore London
18th November 2021
to 26th March 2022
Airbus A380s operate on highlighted flights
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ306 A350-900 |
||||||||
| SIN 01:10 |
LHR 07:20 |
||||||||
|
SQ308 A350-900 |
||||||||
| SIN 09:00 |
LHR 15:20 |
||||||||
|
SQ322 A380 |
||||||||
| SIN 23:45 |
LHR 05:55* |
||||||||
* Next day
London Singapore
19th November 2021
to 26th March 2022
Airbus A380s operate on highlighted flights
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ305 A350-900 |
||||||||
| LHR 09:10 |
SIN 06:05* |
||||||||
|
SQ317 VTL A380 |
||||||||
| LHR 10:55 |
SIN 07:50* |
||||||||
|
SQ319 A350-900 |
||||||||
| LHR 20:35 |
SIN 17:30* |
||||||||
* Next day
This service will replace a three-class Boeing 777-300ER on the SQ322/317 flight combination on a daily basis, meaning those lucky enough to already be booked in First Class will enjoy a fantastic ‘upgrade’ to the 2017 Suites cabin in either (or both) directions.
VTL flights
The important thing about SQ317 from London to Singapore is that it represents the airline’s only Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) flight from the UK to the Lion City.
This recently expanded scheme allows Singapore residents and overseas visitors to travel quarantine-free to and from Singapore.
Resulting demand from both vacationers and families reuniting seems to have spurred Singapore Airlines to dust down its largest jets to meet the (welcome) challenge.
You can find out more about how the VTL scheme works, whether you’re a Singapore resident longing for an overseas trip or you’re based elsewhere and are eager to visit Asia again, by reading our full guide to the VTL.
Fully vaccinated travellers can also fly to Singapore on VTL flights and transit to an onward destination, while roaming the shops and lounges freely during their connection.
KrisFlyer awards
These are the KrisFlyer award rates for the Singapore – London route, including for the (likely very elusive) Suites cabin.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Singapore ⇄ London |
||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy | 38,000 | 70,000 |
| Premium Economy | 64,500 | n/a |
| Business | 92,000 | 120,000 |
| First / Suites | 125,000 | 220,000 |
Don’t expect this announcement to coincide with a flood of Saver awards, especially on the VTL flights from London to Singapore, but hopefully things will settle a little in the days and weeks ahead.
We’d be surprised to see anything other than Advantage rates over the coming festive season on this popular route, but after that more options are appearing for 2022.
These include Saver awards in Business Class and Advantage awards in Suites, in both directions on the London route, which was the pre-COVID norm for ‘new’ A380 flights.
New cabin products
All 12 of Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380s returning to passenger service will feature the airline’s latest 2017 cabin products, as we exclusively revealed in November 2020, so it’s no surprise that this first route back on the roster is no exception.
2017 Suites
The biggest selling point of the newly configured A380s is the latest Suites cabin, located on the forward upper deck with a capacity of just six, three either side of a central aisle.
Two of the Suite pairs (1A/2A and 1F/2F) can combine to form a double suite if you are travelling with someone else.
You can read our review of the double suite on a flight from Singapore to Hong Kong in 2018 below.
Although Singapore Airlines stopped short of installing showers in the latest A380 fit, there are two large washrooms at the front of the cabin, one of which is so big it has its own separate vanity area.
We also enjoyed the ‘A380 Restaurant@Changi’ experience on board the new Suites cabin back in October 2020 – see our review here.
2017 Business Class
Another great advantage of the new Singapore Airlines A380 cabins is the excellent Business Class product, our personal favourite in the fleet, with 78 of these seats occupying the rest of the upper deck in a 1-2-1 layout.
There’s the option at the middle seat pairs to retract the divider for couples travelling together, who also benefit from a ‘double bed’ at the three bulkhead positions – Rows 11, 91 and 96.
This is our personal favourite among the airline’s Business Class seats, so it’s great to see it back.
Other cabins
SIA’s A380s have the airline’s largest Premium Economy cabin, with 44 seats in a 2-4-2 layout at the front of the main deck.
Each seat is 19.5 inches wide, with eight-inch recline and seat pitch of 38 inches.
